The noble and impeccable
character of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH) is a well-established
notion, not only in Islamic but non-Muslim circles as well. He was equally
generous and humble to animals and even plants as he was to human beings. He was
an epitome of magnificence and glory. You may fall short of ink when writing
about his immaculate personality. We discuss here some of his major personality
traits as every detail of the most influential single persona in human history,
cannot be encapsulated in one article.
The extraordinary and unmatched greatness of Prophet's (PBUH) character can be
easily seen in an event narrated from Abu’l-Maleeh where a man said: I was
riding behind the Prophet (PBUH) when an animal stumbled. I said: “Woe to the
Shaytaan.” The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Do not say woe to the Shaytaan, for if you
say that he grows bigger until he is like a house, and he says, ‘It is by my
power.’ Rather say: ‘Bismillaah (in the name of Allah),’ for if you say that, he
grows smaller, until he is like a fly.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 20068; Abu Dawood,
4982; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani)
The worst enemy to humankind is Satan, the root of all evils. All the despair
and destruction that humanity ever suffered is because of his nefarious and
vicious plans, to which mankind easily falls prey to. Yet, the Prophet of Islam
commands us not to abuse even him.
What else could define the dignified demeanour of Allah's last Messenger (PBUH)
than this event where he prohibits his followers from abusing even Iblees. A
true believer of Islam according to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
does not use profanities against anyone and should be a role model carrying high
moral standards and ethics.
It was the personality and character of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) that outshone
all other personalities of the world. The community that knew no morality, with
his teachings, began to establish an Ummah of the loftiest moral values.
The Quran says clearly, "We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with
transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and
conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation." (Qur’an,
17:70). This honour is for the entire human race, for believers and
non-believers as well.
In a historical letter, Prophet (PBUH) addressed the Roman king with the title 'Azeemur
Rome', 'the Great Emperor of the Roman Empire'. He did not use insulting words
for him despite being a non-Muslim ruler, yet unfortunately, the world today is
unaware of the actual teachings of Islam and fed false stereotypes through the
media regarding Islam and Muslims.
They say what goes around, comes around. You don't disrespect in order to be
respected. The humiliation that you cause to others comes back to you in a
number of ways. It is one, because of our irresponsible actions that the
disbelievers are trying to insult or disrespect our beloved Prophet (PBUH) today
on social media or other platforms, in ways such as ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad
Day’, ‘Innocence of Muslims’, or through sacrilegious Facebook pages, bloggers
in their blogs, at different forums and stages.
Furthermore, is disrespecting or defaming any person publicly allowed under the
law?
Section 3 of ‘The Defamation Ordinance, 2002’, states:
(1) Any wrongful act or publication or circulation of a false statement or
representation made orally or in a written or visual form which injures the
reputation of a person, tends to lower him in the estimation of others or tends
to reduce him to ridicule, unjust criticism, dislike, contempt or hatred shall
be actionable as defamation.
(2) Defamation is of two forms, namely:
(i) Slander; and (ii) Libel.
(3) Any false oral statement or representation that amounts to defamation shall
be actionable as slander.
If disrespecting an ordinary person is a crime, how come disrespecting a revered
Prophet, the noblest man who ever walked the Earth, with followers in every
single part of the world, goes unnoticed especially in a Muslim country? If an
ordinary person is punishable in the eyes of the law for the crime discussed
above, then how is it that the blasphemers who not only abuse or tried to
ridicule the Prophet (PBUH) but also hurt religious sentiments of the community
go unpunished?
We respect the religious sentiments of our Christian community and do not dare
to disrespect Prophet Jesus (AS) or any of their sacred texts or figures, for we
believe he is also a Prophet of Allah (SWT). In fact, any such act against him
will anger the followers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) equally.
Concluding more, Pakistan must play its promised role on the issue of blasphemy
on international level. Government of Pakistan should unite the Muslim World for
protection of the honour of prophets. As well as, it is the duty of each person
of the community to choose the right path and fulfill the responsibility of the
protection of honor of the HolyProphet (PBUH)